I can still remember how I felt several years ago when I was dating a guy who was hot and cold. On our first date, he took me to a really nice restaurant where the ambience was romantic, the wine was expensive and the sparks were flying between us. He acted attentive and kind and affectionate, and he made me feel like I was the only woman who mattered. At the end of the night, we kissed goodnight in my kitchen, and I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I went to bed that night feeling hopeful and happy.

The next day, I was hoping for a text saying something like, "Thanks for a nice night." Nothing. The day after that: still nothing. A week went by. No call. No text. Nothing. It is these kinds of experiences that make women really hate dating. The promise of Prince Charming takes us as high as the moon, only to have it plunge us deep into disappointment.

The best word I can use to describe how I felt the first day I dropped off my daughter at preschool is "free." I felt liberated! Both of my toddlers were in someone else's care for a whole hour and 45 minutes, leaving me the freedom to do whatever I wanted, and boy did I appreciate the time alone.

Fast forward 15 years, or so. The first time you drop your kid off at college is an entirely different story. Not that I know firsthand, but 35 years later, I can still vividly remember the tears my mom cried on the way home from the University of Michigan, having just taken my sister there. Saying goodbye and leaving your child in a dorm room far away cannot be easy. It is a major life change that not only affects the kids, his or her siblings and each parent, but that also has a huge impact on the parent's relationship with a child.

I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it.

That is a quote by Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, who as of Wednesday night holds 25 Olympic medals, 21 of which are gold.

Phelps is just one of the countless Olympic athletes inspiring us from Rio, not just with amazing talent, but because of something that is equally if not more important in winning than skill alone: mental strength.

When I was a fifth-grader, there was no one I envied more than Pinky Tuscadero. After all, Pinky was the Fonz's girlfriend! What I didn't know back then was that Pinky and Fonz's romance in Garry Marshall's unforgettable '70s sitcom, "Happy Days," was just a glimpse of what the brilliant writer, director, actor and producer had in store for TV and movie audiences over the next five decades.

Marshall, who died recently at the age of 81, seemed to have a deep love for tenderness, romance, humor and happy endings (with the exception of his movie, "Beaches," that had me crying for an hour) and it showed in all of his work.